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The B team reserved their best display for last when great defensive displays by John Norton and Jason Darragh stabilised the team. By this stage, Emmett Smyth was really settling into his goalkeeping role and made some very timely clearances. This was a very encouraging display from a very young team and bodes very well for the future. Killian O'Boyle showed some great touches despite being the youngest man on duty for Rasharkin. Brian og O'Neill and Tiarnan McGarrell kept working hard for the team despite picking up minor knocks. It was great to see the entire team working hard as a team to get their passing game going and they were able to open up the Swatragh defence on a number of occasions with Tiarnan McGarrell getting a particularly good point. Excellent work by Killian O'Boyle, Pol Hardy and Cillian McMullan led to what looked like a fine goal by Brian og O'Neill but the referee deemed the ball not to have crossed the line.
Panel: Jason Darragh, Pol Hardy, Aaron McErlean, Tiarnan McGarrell, Cillian McMullan, John Norton, Killian O'Boyle, Brian og O'Neill, Emmett Smyth
Due to the low numbers in Rasharkin at this age group, this
panel had to operate with a panel of 8 as opposed to most teams who had panels
of 10. As with the B team, these players were a credit to their club.
In
the first game, the A team produced probably their best performance so far this
year. It was nip and tuck in the early minutes with points exchanged but in a
two minute spell, Rasharkin really took over. Jonathon McKeown powered through
for a fine goal and Andrew Hasson did likewise. Fearghal Kennedy then ensured
victory with a good run and nicely taken goal into the bottom right hand corner
of the net. Joel McLaughlin was providing a great outlet for passes from defence
and midfield and was proving a real handful for his marker with his speed.
Further points were added with a fine left footed effort from Andrew Hasson and
a great effort from Sean Fleming who had worked his way up from defence. Score
3-5 to 0-2.
The second game was a really tight affair with Aodan Hardy
again making some fine saves to keep his second clean sheet. Ronan Hasson showed
great anticipation to get out in front of his opponent on numerous occasions and
to then lay the ball off simply to a colleague. The blocking in this game was
superb with Sean Fleming, Ronan Hasson and Pearse Kelly in defence and Jonathon
McKeown and Fearghal Kennedy in midfield being particularly adept at this. This
was a strong Swatragh team and it was a credit to our defence that we were able
to hold them scoreless. Joel McLaughlin made some brilliant runs to get the ball
in the forward line and from his astute passes Andrew and Fearghal were able to
take the points that won the game for us. Score 0-2 to 0-0.
We were now
ready to meet Craigbane who had also won their first two games. This was a
winner takes all game and effectively a quarter final. It was very close in the
early stages and after Jonathon McKeown again powered through for two excellent
points, Craigbane started to dominate and were leading by two points with a
couple of minutes left. Rasharkin really needed something special and they
certainly got it. Andrew Hasson won a ball about 30m from goal, took one solo
past his man and unleashed an unstoppable shot into the top left hand corner.
Craigbane immediately went up the field and were about to score a goal with
almost the last kick when a very brave Pearse Kelly somehow blocked the ball.
Such was Pearse's bravery that he actually had to retire injured from the game
and left the field to great applause from the Rasharkin supporters and neutrals
alike. Score 1-2 to 0-4.
We had to then wait almost two hours for our
semi-final and this delay did not help the team. Despite coming up against a
very big Magherafelt team, Rasharkin battled hard. Our rustiness at the start
allowed Magherafelt to build a 6 point lead, but Rasharkin came storming back.
An Andrew Hasson point followed by a Fearghal Kennedy point from a free after a
very heavy tackle cut the deficit to four points. Then in the space of 90
seconds, three incidents occurred which confirmed that this was not going to be
our day. First, Jonathon McKeown took a great shot for a point but just as the
ball was about to drop over the bar it hit a roof beam and rebounded out the
field. Then great tackling by Andrew Hasson, forced the keeper to carry the ball
over the goal line but somehow the referee waved played on. Finally Fearghal
Kennedy hit an effort which was a replica of Jonathon's earlier attempt and
again the ball rebounded off a roof beam when destined for a point. We could
have been a point ahead but time ran out and Magherafelt actually broke through
for a goal with the last kick of the game. It was a great achievement for Aodan
Hardy as goalkeeper to only be beaten once over four games. Despite the
scoreline, this was a very close game and as with the B panel the A panel kept
battling right to the end. The players are to be commended for being manly
enough to congratulate the Magherafelt players for their victory despite the
disappointing nature of their defeat. Score 1-6 to 0-2
Panel: Sean Fleming, Aodan Hardy, Andrew Hasson, Ronan
Hasson, Pearse Kelly, Fearghal Kennedy, Jonathon McKeown, Joel McLaughlin
